


mind’s bitterness of the realization slipping through the fingers

by lesvov



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Episode: s03e07 Digestivo, M/M, Post-Episode: s03e07 Digestivo, jack and hannibal talking basically, jack realizing things, listen guys im just stating facts thats just how it is, will is only mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-17 07:51:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14184315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesvov/pseuds/lesvov
Summary: Will wanted Hannibal to run, so he wouldn’t have to sacrifice his very last bit of mortality for the sake of love – Jack realizes.





	mind’s bitterness of the realization slipping through the fingers

The ride from Will’s house was both a long one and the last one. Hannibal, cuffed, was sitting in the back seat of a police car as Jack drove in silence.

His eyes were dark, full of suppressed anger and bitterness. He hated how Lecter didn’t look even half as bothered as he did, how his eyes lightly followed Will until he finally got out of their sight. Despite his certainty, the murderer did not look like a man who’s just made a frivolous choice. He never did.

Everything in Jack’s head seemed to be buzzing, rapid thoughts unable to find their place, his fingers tapping on a car wheel. A complete silence filled out the car – for most of the ride, at least.

“You did it for him, didn’t you?” Jack asked. His voice still – his mind, not so much. The question asked would suggest he had any of his thoughts under control, but the confusion would not leave him. Not tonight, not with a Chesapeake Reaper in his backseat.

Deep down, he knew. He felt like he couldn’t ever admit it to himself, kept ignoring everything that his subconsciousness was pointing at. That's basically the main thing he's been doing his entire career. Without giving any actual support nor words that would allow him to understand better, he kept believing in Will Graham – or rather the version of Will he was only wanting to see.

Hannibal’s answer was nearly immediate.

“Will would have never been able to grant me with what I have expected from him. From…” Hannibal furrowed his eyebrows, surprisingly not certain of the words he spoke, “From what I know he is, yet he himself is not able to accept. Not yet.”

“So you decided to give up? For him?” Jack consciously decided he'll ignore the "yet" part of Lecter's statement, as he often foolishly tends to do.

From Lecter’s mouth escaped a dark, short laugh.

“You must really not be up to what my priorities are nowadays, dear Jack. Giving up freedom was the only way of not giving up on…” a short, tasteful moment of silence, “the priority closest to my heart.”

Hannibal’s spoken poetry was the key, in that exact moment, for Jack Crawford. The key unlocked the door to certainty. The thought felt bitter in his mind, almost disgusting – but disgustingly right as well. Doors in his mind labeled “Will” have had a strong relation to Hannibal for the longest time, now stronger than ever before. His mind could not separate certain parts of both men without erasing one’s heart. Not anymore.

The connection Will felt, the bond Hannibal has had so patiently created, the one motivated by the fascination and understanding deeper than anything he himself could ever experience… Will couldn’t run away from it anymore. Instead, he wanted Hannibal to run, so he wouldn’t have to sacrifice his very last bit of mortality for the sake of love.

Crawford understood then. Hannibal did not give up anything, not really; they have given him exactly what he had wanted and they had no other choice than to give in.

And so, Graham will know where Hannibal is.

Hannibal will feel free despite being locked up. He will feel free not only because of his mind palace he’s so thoroughly shaped, but he also won’t have to imagine Will being there. Walking, by his side, around the castle made of memories and idealized versions of what they could’ve had. It will not be necessary, Jack painfully realizes.

Will knows where Hannibal is – and that’s enough for them both.

**Author's Note:**

> just a little somethin i wrote, hope you enjoyed it<3 i'm rewatching hannibal and this episode? great shit thank you very much. hannibal's motivations and feelings in this episode were so interesting that i decided to dwell on them in a fanfic through jack's eyes I GUESS?


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